I'll Be Okay
by LeisaTheGreat
Summary: When Team 7 encounters trouble on their way home from a mission, Naruto and Sakura get seperated from Kakashi and end up trapped without the use of their chakra. Hurt and lost, how will they escape? NaruSaku. *First Fanfic*
1. It's Only a B-Rank

_**I'll Be Okay**_

_By LeisaTheGreat_

**Chapter One**

To the three sprinting shinobi, the forest appeared simply a mess of green and brown. They tried not to get distracted by the sudden flashes of yellow or red, in the form of small songbirds, that sometimes interrupted the neutral colors they'd grown very used to over the past hour.

One of them, a blonde, donning an orange and black jumpsuit seems to lead the group. Even though the young blonde is not in charge, the team leader doesn't protest to him running in the lead. After all, trying to tame the the Hidden Leaf's Number One Knuckleheaded Ninja was a nearly impossible task and Kakashi knew it. So with a half-hearted sigh, he contented himself with falling into the middle of the procession. Between the, ever hyper Naruto and the more level headed Sakura.

Other than Naruto, Team 7 wasn't in a huge hurry to return home. They were tired after running the entire way to Village Hidden in the Rain and would rather take their time on the return journey. Their mission hadn't been a particularly tough one. 'Infiltrate one of the small towns just outside the actual village and get a scroll from one of Konoha's many informants'. That was it. And it had gone down without a hitch, leaving Naruto still entirely bursting with energy.

"Hey, hey Sensei!" The blonde says, a little too loudly.

"What is it?" Kakashi responds, dully.

"What _did_ you get from that informant?! Grandma Tsunade didn't answer me when I asked earlier!"

"Maybe that's because you didn't really 'ask'." Sakura says, shaking her head.

"What do you mean?!" Naruto demands.

"Saying 'hey Old Lady, why are you giving me such a lame mission?' doesn't exactly count as 'what's in the scroll?'." She sighs, fighting a smirk at the memory of her teacher smacking Naruto upside the head after his outburt in the Hokage's office.

Naruto pauses, thinking over the conversation thoroughly. "Hmph, I thought she got the message..."

"You're such an idiot..." Sakura grumbles.

Naruto frowns at her insult. "That's mean, Sakura!" He huffs, unhappily before turning back to his sensei, awaiting an answer to his question.

Kakashi shrugs. "It's not our job to know what's in the scroll. Only to deliver it safely. That's why this is only a B rank mission."

"Oh come on, Kakashi Sensei! Aren't you even a little curious?! I mean...haven't you ever heard of initiative? What if we lost the scroll? If we look inside, then we'll just be able to tell Grandma Tsunade the information firsthand!" He urges.

"Naruto," Kakashi sighs. "If we lost the scroll, the mission would have been a failure anyway. There would be no point in knowing what was in it. Besides, reading it is against our orders. If you were listening when Lady Hokage was talking, you'd know that."

Sakura starts giggling at Naruto defeated expression. "But don't worry, Naruto." She says, trying to comfort her childish friend. "If it's important, we'll find out."

"Yeah, yeah alright..." He mumbles.

Just as the conversation comes to an end, Kakashi freezes in place. "_Stop_!"

Naruto and Sakura immediately halt, frozen by the small hint alarm in their teacher's voice normally serene voice.

"What is it?" Sakura breathes, suddenly troubled by Naruto's distance from them. If there was a fight, he was the one an enemy would go for first. Just as in nature, the preditor attacks the weakest link first. Be it sick, old, young...or too far from the rest of the herd.

Kakashi's Sharingan eye whirls with the sudden flood of information from their surroundings. "We're surrounded."


	2. Surrounded

**Chapter Two**

Suddenly very alert, Naruto throws his gaze all over the forest. His body tense for an attack. But he sees nothing, only more and more trees and the occasional droplet of sunlight from the broken canopy.

"Sensei...are you sure?" He asks in low voice.

"Yes. There are traps everywhere." Kakashi elaborates, mindlessly touching the spot in his pouch where the scroll is being stored.

"Traps?" Sakura asks, still looking for the whatever her teacher's eye had spotted. "This is the same way we came earlier and there were no traps then..."

"Exactly."

Naruto glances back at Sakura, just putting his restless mind at ease that she was still okay. He suddenly felt very stupid for being so far from them. What if they got attacked? Sakura might need his help and he would be too far away to do much good. "Where are they?" The blonde asks, all business now.

"About four feet ahead of you." He says. "All over the trees."

"We should walk on the ground then." Sakura tells them. "Sensei, do you see any more on the ground?"

"Not many. Whoever put them there must not want to injure random travelers." The silver-haired man says.

"But they want to injure us?" Naruto relaxes slightly, knowing Kakashi would see an ambush before he would. "Do you think they're after the information our informant gave us?"

"I don't see what else they would want." Sakura points out and, turning to Kakashi, asks "How should we proceed?"

"Drop straight down. There's nothing below any of us."

Without another moment's hesitation, the team drops to the ground. Landing, silently on the balls of their feet. Naruto stands up, orienting himself. It's only then that he sees a small, blinking light half-hidden under a pile of dead leaves.

"Are they landmines?" He gasps.

"That's certainly what it looks like..." Sakura agrees, eyeing the small gray discs with a wary expression. Now that she had an idea of what they looked like, they would be much easier to spot. Soon, she was achingly aware of just how 'surrounded' they really were. Everywhere she looked, there were two or three blinking red lights, threatening to blow her into oblivion if she made one wrong move.

"Alright, you two." Kakashi begins. "Let's keep moving. As long as we're careful, we should be fine."

"Right." Naruto nods and starts walking again, consiously slowing down so he won't stumble over a trap by accident.

"Okay..." Sakura follows suit, watching her footing very carefully.

Hours pass at a crawl as Team 7 cautiously picks their way through the woods toward home. The blinking lights and small discs scattered about act as a constant reminder of an ever present danger, lying just beneath the surface of every stone, every leaf, every branch...

_It's obvious whoever did this did not have plans for a direct fight. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been as thorough. Or at least would have attacked us by now._ Kakashi muses. He looks back to his student, both of which haven fallen behind him since he has the advantage of the Sharingan.

Naruto and Sakura walk together, a few feet behind their sensei. Quietly pointing out traps to one another as they travel.

_Well at least I don't have to worry about them working together. If Sasuke were here, that'd be different story..._ Kakashi frowns under his mask when his thoughts take that unexpected turn. _Sasuke..._ He and Naruto, while best friends, had always been rivals. And they always wanted to outdo each other. Kakashi wouldn't put it past Naruto to do something stupid just to impress the Uchiha. Which, of course, would mostly likely have ended in setting off a landmine...or five...

While Kakashi was thinking about the past of his team, Naruto's thoughts had taken a similiar turn. Seeing as how Sasuke was never far from the Uzumaki's thoughts. _Where are you right now...Sasuke...?_ He wonders. _Are you even still-_

"Ah-!" Sakura gasps in shock as her foot slides on a mound of wet leaves. Stumbling to recover her balance, she quickly makes sure there are no mines around. But right there, just under where her foot will land next...

"Sakura!" Naruto jerks forward, grabbing her wrist to keep her from falling on the explosive trap. "Are you okay?!"

She nods. "Yeah, I just slippe-"

_Beep, beep, beep, beepbeepbeep..._

Naruto's heart clenches at the sound. Turning, he finds his hand hovering right over a landmine which had been taped to the tree he used to support himself while grabbing for Sakura.

Its light was flashing bright and dangerously, a warning it was about to blow.

"Run!" Kakashi barks.


	3. Escape!

**Chapter Three**

Wasting no time, Naruto and Sakura bolt forward, trying to escape. A second later, there's a huge bang and then...heat. The small disc erupts into a fiery starburst of deadly light and heat. Trees singed of their bark within a fraction of an instant. Smoke engulfs the woods, the pressure surely setting off more and more mines.

"_Earth Style: Mud Wall Jutsu!"_

Kakashi slams his palms to the ground, chakra pulsing through them. The earthen mud and rock is manipulated into a huge wall, seperating the ground from the hundreds of explosions on the other side. He turns to his students who are collapsed to the ground, panting heavily.

"Are you two okay?" He asks.

"Yes..." Sakura nods, testing herself for injury.

"I'm alright..." Naruto sighs, wiping soot from his face and clothes.

Kakashi nods and stands up, waiting for the mud wall to burn itself out. "How did that happen?" He demands, folding his arms.

Naruto smiles, sheepishly. "I uh...accidentally-"

"He saved me." Sakura interrupts him. "I was about to fall on a trap and Naruto caught me...we ended up setting one off anyway though..." She admits.

Naruto stares at her in surprise. He had been fully content with taking the blame. After all, it was _his_ hand that touched it.

Kakashi lets out a heavy sigh and nods. "Alright, well we should-"

_Crack!_

"What was that?" Naruto asks, tensing again.

Suddenly, their small mud fortification is flooded with muffled voices. Kakashi motions for them to remain silent.

"I know I heard something!" One voice says.

"Look at this, someone set off our traps!" Says another.

"It's still hot, they must be close!" Replies a third.

"Let's get after them, quick!" And a fourth.

Sakura and Naruto look to their teacher with stern expressions. They were outnumbered and soon, the ninja would see the mud wall. It wasn't easy to miss...how they hadn't already found it was beyond them.

Once the voices are far enough away, Kakashi releases his jutsu and the wall crumbles to the ground, exposing the blackened mess they left behind. Naruto felt almost bad for killing so many plants. But there was no time for that now. They had to get away before they were seen.

"Let's go, we can lay low for a while. At least until we're sure we're not being followed anymore." Kakashi tells them in a hushed tone.

The other two nod, obidiently and start to follow him.


	4. Cave In

**Chapter Four**

Within a few minutes of fleeing the mysterious shinobi, Team 7 discovers a speck of darkness on the side of one of many mountains surrounding the woods. Kakashi motions for them to slow down and, flooding his Sharingan with chakra, is able to see that the small cave is empty of people.

"Let's go." He tells them.

Naruto and Sakura follow him with a wordless agreement. Their heart rates had slowed back to their normal speed so they were no longer breathing as heavily as before. Their focus, now that it was no longer on air and avoiding the landmines that were left behind when they deserted the woods, was now on staying quiet.

_I wonder if they're still following us...?_ Naruto asks himself. _From what we heard back there, it didn't sound like they were after _us_ specifically..._ He glances at Sakura out of the corner of his eye.

Her short, pink hair was stained with ash and soot and her so were her clothes. Frowning, he digs through his pouch, taking a rag into his hand and nudges her with his elbow.

She looks at him with questioningly jade eyes.

The blonde smiles, coyly as he hands her the rag and taps his cheek, silently telling her to clean herself up.

Sakura can't help but blush at her friend's thoughtfullness. She mouths her thanks and wipes her blackened cheeks and forehead as they walk. _Naruto..._She smiles and tucks the dirty rag into her pouch, making a mental note to wash and return it to him later.

They reach the base of the moutain, only to find the cave a full twenty feet above them. Instictively, they pump chakra to their feet and walk up the side of the moutain, leaping the rest of the way into the dark, empty mouth of the cave.

"This should be safe enough for now." Kakashi decides, pulling down his headband to give his Sharingan a break for while. "But we should go a bit further in, just to be safe."

The three Leaf ninja cross the uneven, rocky ground a little deeper into the moutain's side. Now that silence was not an issue, the two younger ninja chat mindlessly. Naruto immediately starts complaining. Something about missing the dinner special at Ichiraku Ramen.

"You should just be glad that mine didn't blow your hand off!" Sakura scolds him.

"Why? It was my _left_ hand. I only eat ramen with my _right_ hand!" He laughs, totally missing the point.

The rosette sighs, tiredly. "You are such a moron sometimes..."

He pouts, folding his arms.

_What was that I said earlier about them getting along?_ Kakashi wonders. "Okay, you guys. This should be-"

_Beep, beep, beepbeepbeep, beepbeepbeep-_

The three of them freeze in terror.

"Another trap?!" Naruto gasps, searching the pitch black cave for the mine. Surely, the red light would-

"There!" Sakura jabs a finger downward. There, hiddn beneath a pile of dirt is the muffled light.

_"Mud Wall!"_ Kakashi shouts, slamming his hands down again. This time, the ground swallows up the disc, just barely containing the powerful explosion.

But it's not enough.

It seems like the entire mountain quakes with the force. Long, spider-like cracks spread across the ceiling. Bits of stone crumble from the roof of the cave, along with loads of dust.

Almost like that small amount of dirt and rock was holding the whole place together, the cave fractures. Tons of earth buckles above and below them, filling the small space with unbreathable, polluted air. As well as sealing the only visible entrance...or exit.

Team 7 is suddenly plunged into total darkness.

Naruto notices the floor below him shift, dangerously. He scrambles to find safer ground but it's too late. He feels himself sliding downward, toward who-knows-where. Above the sounds of destriction, he hears Sakura scream.


	5. Hurting

**Chapter Five**

"Nnn..." Tiny bits of rock litter the floor around Sakura's aching body. The fall had hurt a lot, though she was pretty sure her injuries didn't go past a few bumps and bruises. A tiny ray of light leaks in from somewhere far above her.

Sitting up, she tests herself. Just as she thought. The rosette remains, miraculously, unharmed. Beyond some minorly bleeding cuts and savage bruises. She hasn't broken anything, at least.

How had that last mine gone off? No one had even touched it! Sakura pushes herself up, looking around. She notices, immediately that she is not in the same cave she was in earlier. Disoriented, she turns in a full circle.

"No...I am definately in a different cave...but how?!" She gasps. That's when she remembers the fall. Running back to where she had fallen from, she looks up. That's where the light came from...and where it was impossible to reach. In the center of the ceiling, with no walls to jump from and almost fourty feet high. _How didn't break my neck?!_ Shaking her head, she turns again. _Where do I go from here? Where are-_

"Uggghh..."

Sakura turns toward the firmiliar voice. Her heart racing. "Naruto?! Is that you?" Squinting through the inky darkness, she finds the blonde laying on the ground. His arms and legs sprawled out, uncermoniously in all directions.

He groans again but doesn't move.

"Naruto..." Sakura runs to him, kneeling on the floor beside her teammate, she gently touches his cheek. "Hey, Naruto! Are you okay?" She asks, shaking him slightly.

"Uh..." His eyes squint shut, tighter. "Y-yeah...I think so..."

"Then why don't you get up?" She demands.

Naruto's body tenses, as if he were trying to sit up. But to no avail. His face contorts in pain. "Ahh..."

She gasps, slightly. "What's the matter? Are you hurt?"

"My...head..." He grumbles, his eyes are closed again. "Why is it...so bright in here?"

Sakura recoils in shock. "Bright?" Touching his forehead this time, she starts to let her chakra flow. "Naruto, what are you talking about? It's pitch black down here."

The groggy blonde shakes his aching head, slowly. "What happened?" He asks.

"We fell...Naruto, did you hit your head?"

"I..."

_Beep, beep, beepbeepbeep!_

Sakura flinches as another mine goes off, somewhere far away in the cave. That's when it hits her. She ceases the flow of chakra to her hand and goes very still. "That's it! These mines must go off when you use chakra! They must be different than the ones in the woods, older maybe...It makes sense. In the other cave, we were using our chakra too."

Naruto finally pushes himself up, rubbing his eyes to clear them of their blurriness. "Yeah...these must have been put here...a while ago..." He was trying really hard to speak in coherent sentences. His head just hurt...so bad...So did his side. But that didn't even compare to the headache.

Suddenly, Sakura's face darkens. "But if we can't use our chakra down here, how do we get out?" She looks to Naruto. He always seemed to have _some_ kind of idea. Even if it didn't always work...

But he doesn't notice. His blue eyes were staring, blankly at the floor. The only thing he could really focus on at the moment was the pain...

"-ruto? Are you okay?"

"Huh?" His head snaps up, sending the world into a dizzying whirl. Making him feel like he would vomit if it didn't stop soon. "Wha...what?"

"I said 'are you okay'? You don't look so good."

"Yeah I...I'm alright. I think..."

"You think?"

"I feel sorta...funny." He admits. To be totally honest, he felt terrible. His head was pounding , relentlessly. And now that he was thinking about it, the pain in his side was making a little hard to breathe. On top of that, his entire body throbbed with the small cuts and scratches it had aquired from falling through the floor. So yeah. He felt aweful.

"Hmm." Sakura scoots a bit closer, placing her hand on her head. She summons only a small amount of chakra. Not enough to heal, that would cause an explosion. Just enough to get a peak inside his head. Make sure he wasn't bleeding internally or anything. "I don't feel anything...you probably just bumped it." She tells him in a soft voice.

"Yeah." He nods. "That's...probably all it is...I'll be okay."


	6. If only

**Chapter Six  
**

Kakashi's body ached. Unlike Naruto and Sakura, who had seemingly vanished after the rock slide, he had gotten pelted with stones. His body was beaten and bruised and all he wanted to do was sleep. But he pushes on, knowing he had to find his students. That is...if they were still alive..._ No!_ He shakes that thought from his head. _They're both far too stubborn to die from something like this...they're alive. I just need to find them._

Kakashi had also figured out what was causing the explosions within the cavern. And realized, guiltfully, that he had been the cause of the one which had seperated the team. Just to be safe, he had activated the Sharingan. The sudden burst of chakra had irriated the sensitive devices, thus causing them to destabilize.

Kakashi continues walking, knowing that if he can find a spot without any landmines, he can use his summoning dogs to track down his student. That is the only thing that keeps him moving. Making sure his teammates were alive...that was the only thing that mattered to Kakashi at the moment.

"_huff...huff...huff..._" Naruto's lungs scream for air as he pushes himself to keep up with Sakura. Unlike him, she was uninjured. She also didn't know the extent of her partner's wounds either, since he kept lying to her. 'I'll be okay' he kept saying. 'I'll be fine'. He'd insisted it so heavily, she believed him.

Now, with her a good five feet ahead of him, he gave in to the temptation to clutch his burning ribs. They seemed to be getting worse by the second...and his head. Oh God, his head...it hurt to no bounds...he could barely think at all.

The blonde's body was more a machine at this point. _Step, breathe, step, breathe, step, breathe..._It was all he could do just to focus on that much. That's why he contented himself with allowing Sakura to take the lead and find a way out. Which, under normal circustances, he would have insisted on doing. It would have been a pretty fun adventure, if not for the pain...and the ever-present searing light which his companion refused to recognize.

_Maybe I have a...what's it called...curse this foggy brain of mine...!_ Naruto lets out a frusterated, exhausted groan.

It attacts Sakura's attention. The kunoichi turns and frowns at him. "Naruto." She says. When he doesn't answer, she starts walking back toward him. "Hey." She places a hand on his cheek again.

His eyes lift to hers, squinting painfully. "...yeah...?" He mumbles.

"I, uh..." She struggles to come up with a lie. "I'm starting to get a little hungry, why don't we stop?" Because 'you need rest' wouldn't work on him. He was always more concerned with the well-being of others more than himself.

He nods, weakly and follows Sakura a few more feet to a spot where the ground wasn't quite so hard. He instantly collapses to the ground, propping himself against the wall and trying to catch his breath.

Sakura settles down beside him. "Why don't you get some sleep for a while? I'll keep watch." She offers with a gentle smile.

Naruto hesitates. He didn't want to waste time they could be using to get out and find Kakashi but...he was _so_ tired that he no longer cared. "Okay..." He says and worms down to the floor, closing his eyes.

Sakura smirks and shakes her head. "Idiot..." She says and, scooting closer to him, lifts his body onto her lap. "There's no way you'll get any sleep like that."

Naruto was shocked that Sakura actually _offered_ to let him sleep so close to her. Under normal circumstances, he would have been thrilled...except...he was fast asleep within seconds of meeting her warmth. His chest rising and falling, evenly with a tranquil look on his face.

The rosette smiles, warmly at him. Keeping herself entertained by running her hands through his soft, sunshine hair.

It's only then that she notices. When her hand comes away, stained with red, she gasps in horror. Parting his hair, she finds a long gash running along his scalp. _Oh, Naruto...why didn't you tell me it was this bad?!_ Before she realizes what she's doing, her hand is glowing green.

She freezes.

But nothing happens.

There's no beep of a triggered landmine.

No explosion.

No danger...at least, not yet.

Hating it, she lets the chakra dissipate. She wouldn't risk putting him in more danger that he already was in. Instead, she pulls him closer and curls her body around him, hoping that he'll feel a little better with some decent sleep. He felt oddly, uncharacteristicly, cool. Naruto was one of those people who was like a heater all the time. Always eminating warmth. But right now, touching his skin made her shiver. She squeezes her eyes shut, fighting panicked tears that threatened to fall.

_ Naruto...please. Just hang in there until I find us a way out...!_


	7. Reflective

**Chapter 7**

_"Naruto...please. Just hang in there until I find us a way out..."_

"Finally..." Kakashi sighs. The small spot was like a miniature cave on its own. Hidden high above the ground, it was like a shelf. Completely devoid of traps. Summoning a bit more strength from his tired body, he summons his dogs. They appear in a puff of smoke, tense and ready for whatever awaits them. Snarling and growling furiously. "Easy guys..." Kakashi tells them. "I need you to find Naruto and Sakura. They're lost somehwere in these caves and could possibly be hurt. You remember their scents, right?"

The dogs nods.

"Scatter." He orders them.

Sakura's eyes snap open suddenly. "What?!" She looks around, frantically. When had she fallen asleep?! And...what was this weight in her lap. She looks down to find Naruto still sleeping, peacfully. His body was pressed so close to hers that she nearly blushed.

The short-tempered girl's first instinct was to knock him into next week...but then she remembered their situation. Just to confirm the level of danger, she places her hand on his head, her nimble fingers finding the wound immediately. Once again, they come away caked in fresh blood. _He's still bleeding!_ She realizes with a pang of fear. Gently, Sakura lifts him up and places him back on the ground. Kneeling over him, she unzips his jacket. _I don't want to leave his head on the hard ground..._As she folds his jacket into a pillow and places it under his head, she notices just how shallow his breaths are.

"It looks like...he's having a hard time breathing." Sakura's inner medic kicks in and, shamlessly, lifts the boy's shirt, peering underneath. A sound somewhere between a gasp and a cry of shock breakes through her throat. "What the-"

The entire left side of Naruto's rib cage was purple and blue. The bruise looked terrible and explained why he was having a hard time breathing... _A broken rib._ She decides. And, running her fingers over his head wound again, _And a concussion._

"Naruto, you idiot. Why wouldn't you tell me?! I would never have pushed you so hard if I'd known you were in such bad shape!"

With a deep sigh, she looks around their cave. How long had she been sleeping? To her, it felt like mere seconds. But she knew, from experience, she may have been asleep for hours. With this level of darkness, there was no way of telling night from day. _Either way..._She decides. _Naruto has gotten a chance to rest. We need to find Sensei and get Naruto to a hospital, ASAP!_

She leans down, gently grasping his shoulder. "Hey, get up." She urges, shaking him, tenderly.

No response.

Frowning, she shakes him again. "Let's go, Naruto. I know you're tired but we need to move!"

Still nothing. Not even a flicker of the eyelid to tell her he was awake. Probably because he was still deep in unociousness, far away from Sakura and Kakashi...and the pain. Receeded deep into the inner chambers of his mind so he won't have to face it anymore. Naruto was no quitter. But his body had no choice but to accept defeat.

_Oh great. Now what!_ Sakura sits down again, her knees to her chin. _If I could just use my chakra...I could get us out of here! I could heal him...but I can't use my chakra. This whole cave will explode if I do._ She looks around, confirming her fear is a multitude of blinking, red lights...and...

What was _that_?!

Why were there two yellow discs blinking in the distance?

What did yellow mean?

And why...why were they getting closer...?!

Sakura jumps to her feet, pulling a kunai from her tigh holster. She positions herself between whatever was coming toward her, and Naruto. _I will protect him!_

But then...

"Sakura?" The deep voice sounded vaugly firmiliar.

Just then, the two yellow circles step into the small amount of light. Revealing the small, furry shape of Pakkun. One of Kakashi's ninja dogs.

"Pakkun!" Sakura gasps, startled. "What are you doing here?!"

"Kakashi sent me. Are you two okay?" Asks the small dog.

"Naruto is hurt! We need to get him out of here!"

"Alright, Kakashi will be here soon. Just hang tight until then."

Sakura nods, frantically. Relief and adrenaline pumping through her veins as the dog vanishes into a puff of smoke. She turns back to Naruto.

He was still lying perfectly motionless on the hard floor. His body shivering slightly from the blood loss.

"You're going to be okay...I promise."


	8. Lost and Found

**Chapter Eight**

"Huh?" Kakashi's eyes snap open again as Pakkun's summoning is released. A flood of information bombards the awaiting Jounin...

_"Sakura!" She was standing in a small, round area of one of the lower caves. Her scratched, shaking hands clutching a kunai. Suddenly, the ferocity melts away from her features._

_ "Pakkun, what are you doing here?!" _

_ "Kakashi sent me. Are you two okay?"_

_ The young kunoichi's eyes widen, slightly. "Naruto is hurt!"_

A pang of fear strikes Kakashi's heart. Naruto was injured...and apparently unconsious. It must be bad...

_"Alright, Kakashi will be here soon. Just stay put until then." Pakkun assures her._

Kakashi jumps to his feet and starts sprinting in his students' direction...

"Unnn..." Naruto moans, painfully again. For, probably the hundreth time in an hour. His face was streaked with sweat and blood and he was shivering, voilently now. Small half-choke, half-cough sounds would sometimes break from his throat.

_His broken rib is making it hard for him to get enough oxygen..._ Sakura's inner medic ninja tells her. _If he doesn't get some decent care soon he'll-_

"Shut up, I know!" She growls to herself. "Naruto is _not_ going to die...!"

"Kk-unn-" Naruto's body jerks, slightly as another choking sound comes from his throat. A thin trail of blood leaks down the corner of his mouth.

_He's dying..._

_SHUT UP! HE ISN'T DYING!_

_ If that rib continues to compress his lung, it will-_

Sakura pushes the thoughts away. "Why am I arguing with myself?!"

"That is how people sometimes deal with stress." The voice was so calm and even that it sounded misplaced down here, where Sakura was so terrified.

She spins around, a watery-eyed smile on her face. "Sensei!"

Kakashi nods. "Are you alright, Sakura?"

"I'm fine...but Naruto is-"

"I know. Pakkun told me everything. Come on." He leans down and scoops the blonde's cold, limp body into his arms. "Let's get out of here. I sent one of my dogs to find an exit as well..."

Sakura nods, furiously. "Thank you, Kakashi-Sensei..."

It took them nearly another full day to reach the Hidden Leaf Village. Kakashi took Naruto straight to the hospital while Sakura ran to the Hokage's Mansion to tell her of their return.

Tsunade scowls at her desk, her hands folded neatly as she listens.

"But Naruto is...in pretty bad shape, My Lady..." Sakura finally concludes.

"I see." The older woman closes her eyes with a sigh. "I will go to the hospital and take care of him myself."

Sakura recoils. "Really? I-I mean-Thank you!" She bows, deeply and hurries out of the office. Desperate to check on her friend.

The Leaf Hospital was bustling as always. Nurses and visitors swarm the narrow hallways, moving from one room to another. Checking on patients or talking with doctors. Sakura throws open the double doors and storms inside.

She finds a firmilair face immediately. "Ino!" She calls.

The blonde kunoichi smiles at her. "Oh, hey Sakura. What are you-"

"Ino, do you know what room Naruto is in?!" She interrupts her.

"Uhh." The other girl glances down at a clipboard in her hand. "Room 204...Why is something wrong?"

Sakura ignores her, making a mental note to apologize later...

As she rounds the corner to Naruto's room, she finds her teacher sitting on a bench, his hands wringing, nervously together.

"Kakashi-Sensei..."

The silver-haired man looks up, offering a polite smile. "Hey, Sakura..."

"Is...Is Naruto okay? Do you know anything yet?"

"Nothing yet. They're still working on healing him." He pauses. "What about Lady Fifth? What did she say?"

Sakura manages a smirk. "She's coming to check on Naruto herself..."

His eyes widen. "Really...heh, sometimes I forget how close the two of them are."

"Me too..."

As if one que, Tsunade comes around the corner as well. Shizune in toe. The Hokage nods at Kakashi and Sakura before dissapearing into the room. Shizune hesitates at the door.

"I'm sure he'll pull through." She tells them.

Sakura nods. "I know he will..."

_Naruto is strong...he won't lose to something this stupid..._


	9. They'll Be Okay

**Chapter Nine**

_"His heart is failing!"_

_ Beep...beep...beep..._

_ "Don't stop healing him!"_

_ Beeeep...beeeeep...beeeeeep..._

_ "He's crashing!"_

_ Beeeeeeeeeeeeeee..._

_ "He's-"_

"Sakura!"

The rosette jolts awake. Her heart still pounding from the horrible nightmare. Towering over her is Tsunade. The Hokage's arms are planted on her hips.

"Wha...?" Sakura asks, groggily. "When did I fall asleep?"

"About two hours ago." Replies Tsunade.

"T-two hours?! What about him! Is Naruto okay?!" She demands, jumping to her feet.

Tsunade's face softens. "He's awake. You can go see him now."

The oxygen that pumped through Naruto's mask was unpleasantly cool and strong. Each time it forced him to breath, there was a shock of pain in his head and his ribs. Grandma Tsunade had told him he would be sore for a while...but he was getting sick of it really fast. That is...until the door opened again...

He couldn't help but stare at Sakura when she walked in. Her face and arms were covered with small, medical bandages and there was dried blood on her shirt. She was a total mess but it still sent his heart fluttering, nervously.

"H-hey...Sakura..." He smiles, weakly under the oxygen mask.

The pink-haired girl doesn't respond for a moment. She only stares at the blonde for several minutes, her emerald eyes watering. "Naruto..." She breathes, softly. Sakura laughs as a wave of relief washes over her.

He looked aweful and he knew it. But she didn't seem to mind.

"Naruto!" And then he's in her arms, smothering and suffocating in her bone-shattering grip. But he didn't care...Sakura was hugging him. _ Sakura_ was _hugging _him! It felt like a dream come true.

_Maybe I am still dreaming..._He muses. _Hmm...well if I am, nobody wake me!_

Eventually, she releases him. "Naruto," She says again. "How are you feeling? Are you okay?!"

He grins. "I'll live."

Another smile breaks across her lips.

_Yes. Yes, you will..._

"Ha, ha..." Sakura grabs him and pulls him into another embrace.

"H-hey, Sakura! That hurts!"

"Don't be such a baby!"

Just outside the door, Kakashi leans against the wall. His arms folded with a smirk on his face.

_I think they'll be okay..._


End file.
